Operation Manual

40 Parameters
Direct Sound Room Response
Early reflexions Late Reverberation
dB
Reverberation Time (TR)
Amp
Time
Figure 21: Impulse response of a room.
The duration of the reverberation time depends on both the size of the room and the absorption
of the walls, which is controlled with the Decay knob. In a real room the reverberation time is not
constant over the whole frequency range. As the walls are often more absorbent in the very low and
in the high frequencies the reverberation time is shorter for these frequencies. These parameters
are adjusted with the Low and High knobs respectively.
Another parameter which affects the response of a room is its geometry; the more complex
the geometry of a room, the more reflexion are observed per unit of time. This quantity is known
as the time density and can be set trough the Diffusion knob. In a concert hall, the time density
is supposed to be quite high in order not to hear separate echoes which are characteristic of poor
sounding rooms.
The last parameter which affects our listening experience in a room, is the distance between
the sound source and the listener. While the room response is quite constant regardless of the
position of the source and the listener, the direct sound (the sound which comes directly from the
source) depends strongly on the position of the listener. The farther we are from the sound source
the quieter is the direct sound relatively to the room response. The ratio between the direct sound
and the room response is adjusted with the Mix knob which in other words is used to adjust the
perceived distance between the source and the listener. In its leftmost position, only the direct
sound is heard while when fully turned to the right, one only hears the room response. Note that
the Mix parameter is also adjustable from the Play view.
5.4 The Play View
The Play view groups together the main parameters from the Edit and FX views. It is loaded when
starting the instrument and can be accessed from another view by clicking on the Play button on
the top part of the interface.
The middle section of this view allows one to switch on and off the EQ, Compressor and